Importance of CSR Efforts to Investors in the Nordic Countries in Investment Decision-Making Process
Valkealahti, Arla (2022)
Valkealahti, Arla
2022
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052511867
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022052511867
Tiivistelmä
This Bachelor’s thesis investigates Nordic investors interests in corporate social responsibility issues when making investment decisions. The purpose of the thesis is to provide useful data about investors interest in sustainability issues in Nordic countries.
The research was made by interviewing investment professionals about how they see the rising concern on sustainability in their work. In second part a questionnaire was concluded for private investors to find out what is the interest of investors related to sustainability issues and how does this show in their investment decisions. Lastly the research looks into what kind of responsible investment options there are available for investors and how do they meet investors criteria. The last phase was done by analyzing the data that different banks and brokerages provide in their websites and in their sustainability strategies.
The findings of the research were that the interest in ESG issues is rising and there is quite good variety of different investment options available to meet the ESG criteria of private in- vestors. The level of importance of the issues varies between different investors. For some investors, it is very important that ESG matters are covered in the investment target, while some do admit that they do not take these into consideration in their investment strategy.
The investors appreciated mostly the environmental issues, such as efficient waste handling and combating global warming, and social issues, such as exclusion of child labor. The issues related to governance were not found as important as social and environmental issues. Regarding on the different methods, the private investors are not all so commonly familiarized about the different methods available. Screening, especially negative screening is commonly used by the investors and some of the investors have clear exclusion criteria.
Overall, the research shows that especially the bigger banks have very wide data available for investors and for most investors there are investment options available that meet their criteria, however, it requires some time and efforts from the investor as well as trust to the data provided by the banks and brokerages. In conclusion, the information about the sustainability is available for consumers but having clearer standardization in the field could ease the effort needed from private investors.
The research was made by interviewing investment professionals about how they see the rising concern on sustainability in their work. In second part a questionnaire was concluded for private investors to find out what is the interest of investors related to sustainability issues and how does this show in their investment decisions. Lastly the research looks into what kind of responsible investment options there are available for investors and how do they meet investors criteria. The last phase was done by analyzing the data that different banks and brokerages provide in their websites and in their sustainability strategies.
The findings of the research were that the interest in ESG issues is rising and there is quite good variety of different investment options available to meet the ESG criteria of private in- vestors. The level of importance of the issues varies between different investors. For some investors, it is very important that ESG matters are covered in the investment target, while some do admit that they do not take these into consideration in their investment strategy.
The investors appreciated mostly the environmental issues, such as efficient waste handling and combating global warming, and social issues, such as exclusion of child labor. The issues related to governance were not found as important as social and environmental issues. Regarding on the different methods, the private investors are not all so commonly familiarized about the different methods available. Screening, especially negative screening is commonly used by the investors and some of the investors have clear exclusion criteria.
Overall, the research shows that especially the bigger banks have very wide data available for investors and for most investors there are investment options available that meet their criteria, however, it requires some time and efforts from the investor as well as trust to the data provided by the banks and brokerages. In conclusion, the information about the sustainability is available for consumers but having clearer standardization in the field could ease the effort needed from private investors.